A Chain of Musicals: WEST SIDE STORY

Posted on January 8, 2012 by David Fick
WEST SIDE STORY

To purchase WEST SIDE STORY on Blu-ray, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Oklahoma!, then you might like West Side Story.

Both Oklahoma! and West Side Story did big things for musical theatre. Oklahoma! made standard an approach to musical theatre that had long been waiting in the wings. West Side Story changed the way that chorus performers were viewed primarily as singers or dancers: suddenly they had to do both, and act too. (That’s not to say that choruses who appeared on stage before didn’t act, but I think it’s fair to say that a greater commitment to characterisation was expected of chorus members as the 1940s moved into the 1950s.) Both shows tell the stories of a split community: in Oklahoma!, your occupation defined you; in West Side Story, it was your race. Both shows also focus hugely on dance as a vehicle for storytelling and characterisation, something that the writer of the book, Arthur Laurents, seemed to forget when he directed the most recent revival of West Side Story on Broadway and cut half of the “Somewhere” ballet.

West Side Story tells the story of Tony, a Jet, and Maria, a sister of one of the rival Sharks gang, who fall in love despite the prejudice that surrounds them. Yes, it’s a Romeo and Juliet story – with a couple of twists along the way, not the least of which is the tragic ending. Highlights include “Something’s Coming”, “Tonight”, “America”, “Cool” and “Somewhere”.

I wonder what the legacy of West Side Story, the debut Broadway show for Stephen Sondheim, working with Leonard Bernstein on the score, might have been without the film version to propel it into the forefront of the public consciousness. What was heralded by critics as a potential milestone for the Broadway musical theatre became a cultural phenomenon when the film was released – and that despite its imperfections. Today people argue about how effective Laurents’s book is because of its made-up slang (some of those exclamations induce unintentional laughter these days), about which version of “America” should be in the stage version (the lyrics for the film are better, but putting the Shark boys on stage distorts the commentary and ruins the asymmetrical structural balance of the characters in the show), about whether the lyrics of “I Feel Pretty” are as bad as Sondheim says they are (I think there are worse offenders in “Tonight”). That said, it is unarguably a classic and holds special places in many a musical theatre fan’s heart and mind.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on West Side Story. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

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A Chain of Musicals: OKLAHOMA!

Posted on January 7, 2012 by David Fick
OKLAHOMA!

To purchase the 1955 Film Soundtrack of OKLAHOMA!, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Annie Get Your Gun, then you might like Oklahoma!.

Annie Get Your Gun and Oklahoma! were both show produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Oklahoma! made standard a new set of norms for the Broadway musical and Annie Get Your Gun was created with that vision in mind, although it isn’t nearly as seamlessly integrated. The two also share a “Wild West”, pioneer country setting and, thus, there are similar flavours in parts of the two scores.

Oklahoma! tells the story of Curly, a cowboy, and Laurey, a farmgirl, who are in love and should be going to the box social together, getting married and living life happily ever after. But some things stand in their way: the menacing farmhand, Jud, and the split between the cattle herding and farming communities on the land that will, by the end of the show, become the state Oklahoma. A subplot tells the tale of playful Ado Annie and her faithful beau, Will Parker, whose coupling is delayed by Ado Annie’s shenanigans with a traveling merchant. Highlights include “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning”, “The Surrey with a Fringe on the Top”, “Lonely Room”, “People Will Say We’re in Love” and “Oklahoma”.

Oklahoma!, with its book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and music by Richard Rodgers, is a classic musical and is worthy of its place in musical theatre history and the esteem in which it is held. The storyline so deceptively simple that the show is easy to take for granted. It’s easy to forget – or perhaps not even see at all – that this show is an American allegory with a resonance that underscores every moment of its tight construction. The depth of later Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals is easier to see, with cornerstones like “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, “Something Wonderful” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” adding weight the the respective scores from which they are taken, but when the equivalent number in Oklahoma! is “The Farmer and the Cowman”, it’s easier to miss and dismiss. But that’s part of the genius of Oklahoma!: the thoughts are expressed through the characters in a way that perfectly suits them – and that’s the way it should be.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Oklahoma!. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

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A Chain of Musicals: ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

Posted on January 6, 2012 by David Fick
Ethel Merman in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN
Ethel Merman in ANNIE GET YOUR GUN

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Anything Goes, then you might like Annie Get Your Gun.

Anything Goes and Annie Get Your Gun were both created to suit the talents of Ethel Merman and each was written by the one of the leading composer-lyricists of their time: Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. Both shows have also been revised over the years, Anything Goes more successfully, with Annie Get Your Gun suffering a curate’s egg of a revisal in the hands of Peter Stone (the original book is by Herbert and Dorothy Fields) for the 1999 Broadway revival.

Annie Get Your Gun tells the tale of Annie Oakley, a sharpshooter who gained her fame in a Wild West show during the 1880s, and how she met and married her husband, Frank Butler. The story isn’t historically accurate, but it makes for great entertainment. Highlights include “There’s No Business Like Show Business”, “Moonshine Lullaby”, “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun”, “Anything You Can Do” and “An Old-Fashioned Wedding”.

Annie Get Your Gun was written by Irving Berlin, who tackled the show skeptically: he was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to write a score for the then new-trend towards integration in musical theatre. While Annie Get Your Gun is certainly more loosely constructed than its Rodgers and Hammerstein cousins like Oklahoma! and Carousel, Berlin fashioned a score that tells the story well enough (there are some pieces that tend towards the generic) and provided a number of palpable hits. While Merman put a definitive stamp on the role, that’s hasn’t stopped other divas from following in her footsteps: Mary Martin, Dolores Gray, Debbie Reynolds, Kim Criswell, Judy Kaye, Bernadette Peters, Susan Lucci, Reba McEntire, Andrea McArdle and Jane Horrocks have all tackled the role to varying degrees of success. I wonder what Judy Garland might have been like in the film had she been at her best, instead of the run down waif the MGM studios had forced her to become by that time.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Annie Get Your Gun. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

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A Chain of Musicals: ANYTHING GOES

Posted on January 5, 2012 by David Fick

ANYTHING GOES

To purchase the 2011 Broadway Revival Cast Recording of ANYTHING GOES, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Mame, then you might like Anything Goes.

Both Mame and Anything Goes feature scores by iconic composer-lyricists, Jerry Herman and Cole Porter respectively. Both shows have a heady 1930s sensibility, depsite having been written decades apart, and both are held together by the antics of a madcap dame.

Anything Goes takes place on an ocean liner traveling from bound from New York to London. Billy Crocker has stowed away, hoping to win the heart and hand of Hope Harcourt, an heiress whose mother has had her engaged to the stuffy British gentlemen Lord Evelyn Oakleigh. Evangelist turned nightclub singer, Reno Sweeney, and “Moonface” Martin, Public Enemy #13, help the pair get together in classic 1930s musical comedy style. Highlights include “You’re the Top”, “Anything Goes”, “Blow, Gabriel, Blow”, “I Get a Kick Out of You” and “Easy to Love”.

Anything Goes is one of Cole Porter’s two best shows, the other being Kiss Me, Kate. While Porter wrote many a great song, many of his other shows are less cohesive and/or haven’t aged well with time. Part of the credit must surely be given to the numerous book-writers who have worked on this show, both when it was first written and when it was freshened up in later years: Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay, Russel Crouse, John Weidman and Timothy Crouse. The show also features one of my favourite Porter songs, “You’re the Top”, a deft piece of work that can stop the show midway through the first act if you’ve got a great Reno and Billy putting it across. Reno, a role originated by Ethel Merman, has been played by several great musical theatre divas, including Patti LuPone, Elaine Paige and, most recently, Sutton Foster in the current Broadway revival (who is best when she’s just playing her take on the role and not consciously trying to channel Ethel Merman, particularly when she’s delivering her dialogue).

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Anything Goes. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

Posted in Cole Porter, Guy Bolton, Howard Lindsay, John Weidman, PG Wodehouse, Russel Crouse, Timothy Crouse | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Chain of Musicals: MAME

Posted on January 4, 2012 by David Fick

MAME

To purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of MAME, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Gypsy, then you might like Mame.

Like Gypsy, Mame revolves around a strong, iconic female character, both of whom have been played to great effect by Angela Lansbury. In fact, it’s a movie musical tragedy that Angela Lansbury was passed over for the film version of Mame, a role she originated on stage.

Mame tells the story of eccentric madcap, Mame Dennis, whose nephew, Patrick, is left to her care. Life and love and friendship are never sacrificed by Mame and her passion sees her and Patrick through the Depression with great style. Will there be an emotional price-tag on her way of life? That’s the question Mame will have to face as little Patrick grows up and becomes a man. Highlights include “It’s Today”, “Bosom Buddies”, “We Need a Little Christmas”, “If He Walked Into My Life” and “Mame”.

Mame is a typical Jerry Herman show with catchy tunes and a pathos-filled 11 o’clock number for the leading lady. Let’s face it, Jerry Herman has spent his whole career writing 1920s-style star vehicles for women (with the exception of La Cage aux Folles, although that is a neat little inversion of his formula) and Mame is an infectiously bubbly show, although I prefer Herman’s score for Hello, Dolly!. We haven’t really seen an excellent Broadway revival of the show since the flop revival the show in the 1980s, although Christine Baranski earned good reviews in a production at the Kennedy Center in 2006. Perhaps its time to dust off this musical; it’s surely more preferable than making new jukebox musicals out of old Gershwin tunes, cf. the upcoming Nice Work if You Can Get It.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Mame. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

Posted in Jerome Lawrence, Jerry Herman, Robert Edwin Lee | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Chain of Musicals: GYPSY

Posted on January 3, 2012 by David Fick

GYPSY

To purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of GYPSY, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Sweeney Todd, then you might like Gypsy.

Both Sweeney Todd and Gypsy feature lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, who explored moments when the protagonist’s mind cracks on stage in musical numbers in each show (cf. “Epiphany” and Rose’s Turn”). The original Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Angela Lansbury, played Rose to great effect in the original West End production of Gypsy, with Patti LuPone following in her footsteps in later Broadway revivals of both shows.

Gypsy tells the story of Rose Hovick, ‘born too soon and started too late’, who pushes her daughters, June and Louise, into careers in show business. When the show starts, June and Louise are a kiddie act in local talent shows. After selling her father’s solid gold service award and a chance meeting with theatrical agent, Herbie, who also becomes Rose’s lover, the act moves to vaudeville and eventually washes up on the tainted shores of burlesque, where Rose convinces the now grown Louise to become a stripper. Can there be any reconciliation for Rose with any of the people in her life after that final push? That’s the question. Highlights include “Some People”, “Everything’s Coming Up Roses”, “Together Wherever We Go”, “You Gotta Get a Gimmick” and “Rose’s Turn”.

Gypsy features on of the most complex characters ever created for the musical theatre stage. Arthur Laurents’s book crafts her in bold strokes, leaving room for Sondheim’s lyrics and Jule Styne’s score to fill in the character psychologically. It’s the perfect marriage between book, lyrics and score. The show has had at least one major revival or film in each decade since it premiered and it is quite something to examine how different actresses tackle the role. As regular readers of this blog might know, my favourite Rose is Angela Lansbury. How I do wish that somehow the film adaptation could have been a star vehicle for her.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Gypsy. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

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A Chain of Musicals: SWEENEY TODD

Posted on January 2, 2012 by David Fick

SWEENEY TODD

To purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of SWEENEY TODD, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

If you like Marie Christine, then you might like Sweeney Todd.

Like Marie Christine, Stephen Sondheim and Hugh WheelerSweeney Todd is a revenge drama told using an excellent score. Both shows dust off an old legend and present them for a contemporary audience, although Sweeney Todd is a far more literal adaptation of its source material.

Sweeney Todd tells the story of Benjamin Barker, who returns to London from an unjust prison sentence in Australia imposed by a judge who lusts after his wife. Assuming a new identity, he hopes to return to his wife and daughter, but discovers – thanks to Mrs Lovett, the owner of a local pie shop, that his wife poisoned herself, leaving his daughter in the care of the same judge who raped his wife and sent him off to jail. The play tells the tale of how he exacts his revenge upon the judge, a path that leads to breakdowns, epiphanies, murder and cannibalism. Highlights include “The Worst Pies in London”, “Johanna”, “Epiphany”, “Pretty Women”, “A Little Priest” and “By the Sea”.

Marie Christine is a phenomenal musical, one of the best ever written. It’s brilliantly plotted and the manner in which Sweeney himself is reconceived as a tragic hero rather than a murderous avenger straight out of melodrama is a masterstroke. Tim Burton’s film adaptation largely missed out on the tragedy and heaped on the melodrama, which was an unfortunate misstep. Thankfully, a filming of the tour of Harold Prince’s brilliant original production of the show, featuring original cast member Angela Lansbury, is available for all to see.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Sweeney Todd. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

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A Chain of Musicals: MARIE CHRISTINE

Posted on January 1, 2012 by David Fick

MARIE CHRISTINE

To purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of MARIE CHRISTINE, click on the image above.

In January, Musical Cyberspace is going to work through a chain of musicals. This is how it works: each day I will discuss, in brief, a musical linked to the previous day’s musical by some kind of common ground. It follows then, that if you – dear reader – liked the previous day’s show, then you might enjoy the current day’s show. Comments, as alway, are welcome!

We’re going to start with one of my favourite shows by Michael John LaChiusa: Marie Christine.

Marie Christine transposes the action of the Greek tragedy, Medea, into 1890s New Orleans and Chicago and combines that narrative with the voodoo-infused myths surrounding Marie Laveau and her daughter. The show tells the story of how Marie meets Dante Keyes, and how she exacts her revenge upon him when he leaves her for another woman. Highlights include “Beautiful”, “Way Back to Paradise”, “I Don’t Hear the Ocean”, “Bird Inside the House” and “We’re Gonna Go to Chicago”.

Marie Christine is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant – one of the greatest musicals of the 1990s. It’s intricate, sophisticated and complex. The first act is just about perfect and the second is almost as good. The premise works brilliantly and is executed with style: the music is incredibly lush and the lyrics, by turn, thrilling filled with profound observations that originate from the characters and the setting, but which are strongly resonant even today. Simply put, it’s a perfect example of excellent contemporary musical theatre.

So, now it’s time to share your thoughts on Marie Christine. And what shows would you suggest to fans of this show? See which one we’ll feature here tomorrow…

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Double Take December: ONCE ON THIS ISLAND

Posted on December 31, 2011 by David Fick

ONCE ON THIS ISLAND

To purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, click on the image above.

It’s Double Take December at Musical Cyberspace! Every musical pretty much has something one likes and something one doesn’t in it. This month I’ll be listing one of each for a range of musicals, a different one each day.

Once On This Island

Something I Like: The show also has a score that carries you away: like the best work by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, it’s packed with beauty and emotion. (Of course, there is a slight compromise made because of that – see the following paragraph.) I also like that Ahrens offers the option of alternative lines to allow for multi-ethnic stagings of the show. People probably would have done it anyway, but at least the show retains its integrity this way. An admirable, pro-active decision.

Something I Don’t Like: I’m not sure the framework is fully realised, although it comes to an emotional conclusion in “Why We Tell the Story”. But is catharsis really all there is to the story told in Once on This Island? Can a world that is not separated by race and class emerge out of that catharsis? Surely that hope is a major part of telling the story too, more so that it is acknowledged in the show’s concluding number? Otherwise, what hope is there for a small girl crying in fear because of thunderous skies?

Feel free to share your “double take” on Once On This Island in the comment box!

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Double Take December: I DO! I DO!

Posted on December 30, 2011 by David Fick

I DO! I DO!

To purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording of I DO! I DO!, click on the image above.

It’s Double Take December at Musical Cyberspace! Every musical pretty much has something one likes and something one doesn’t in it. This month I’ll be listing one of each for a range of musicals, a different one each day.

I Do! I Do!

Something I Like: I Do! I Do! birngs to realisation a clever concept that still has the potential to offer a pleasant evening’s entertainment, thanks to some delightful songs by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. I would like to see it revived sometime, although it would have to be with a top-notch cast and an incredibly resourceful diretor. (I have to admit, though, that I I would probably prefer to see a brand new adaptation of the source material, since… well, see below.)

Something I Don’t Like: Although this show was never a first-rate musical, it’s even harder to make the show play now. Gower Champion’s original staging helped elevate the material beyond its limitations, the stars bolstered the whole affair with their own public personae, and the nostalgia for the past represented by the play held the attention of a whole generation of Americans as their world was changing around them. After all, just a few years later, Company would explore some the themes here more incisively and, even more recently, The Last Five Years took on the same themes using an ingenious structure to discover their relevance in a (post-)modern context. Placed alongside those two shows, does I Do! I Do! truly hold its own?

Feel free to share your “double take” on I Do! I Do! in the comment box!

Posted in Harvey Schmidt, Tom Jones | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment